Confessions of a Wino

In September 2005 I had the great pleasure (?) of driving from Leeds to the Beaujolais region.   Having stayed with family in Essex, passed through the Dover to Calais ferry and spent a night in Epernay (never mind Reims, this is the centre of the champagne universe for me) we arrived in Belleville about 40 hours after we set off.

The reason for the trip?  A 40th birthday present was a “rental” of a number of rows of vines at a Morgon vineyard related to 3D Wines, owned by the absolutely charming Bernard Collonge and his even more charming wife, (who could speak about as much English, as I could French) Christine.

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I started this blog on a South American theme and I am happy to keep that going for a short while because the current exchange rates are making S. American wines superb value for money for us UK winos.

I am a fairly new member of The Wine Society, (HQ at Stevenage in the UK). My first experience was of two bottles of Ch. Kirwan at a very reasonable price but sadly very badly corked.

I am happy to say that following a swift refund (no need to return the bottles) the service and wine quality since then has been excellent and I have continue to buy (er.. I mean invest….)

Recently, I have focussed particularly on S. American wines partly because of the value and partly because of a Wine Society promotion.

So this is how I encountered Cono Sur Signature, El Centinela, Sauvignon Blanc 2006 priced at £7.95 direct from the Wine Society.  This wine from the Casablanca Valley in Chile is a classic example of why you should buy wines from South America right now.

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OK sorry guys but it is a claret.  Most people probably don’t consider Bordeaux reds to offer remarkable value for money, especially given the en primeur prices quoted for the 2005 vintage which made my eyes water.  However its probably fair to say that if you consider quality independent of price, then Bordeaux would be near the top of most wine enthusiasts’ lists.

This is why, despite the exorbitant prices I broke the bank to reserve a few bottles of 2005.  Something I may post about in 2015 (if I am still alive) when they are ready for drinking…

Anyway, back to the wine in question which I opened on our balcony in the summer of 2006 with my good mate Tony the self styled Lord of St Helens and his charming wife Jeanette.

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Is it just me or is everyone suspicious of hotel restaurants?  I stay in hotels a fair bit and I go out of my way to avoid the restaurant in favour of seeking out a local resto with some atmosphere, food that’s not made by the bland leading the bland, and a decent wine list.

So it was with interest and some trepidation that I found myself on the invitation list for the opening of the Queen’s Grill in Leeds on 15 Feb 07.

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In 1988 I was at the cafeteria of a motorway service station buying a sandwich and I asked where the corned beef was from.  I advised the assistant that I hoped it wasn’t from Argentina.

“Oh, you’re not still sore about the Falklands are you?” she retorted.

“No, actually it was Maradona’s 1986 Hand of God goal.  I’ve boycotted Argentinean products since that day”

Wind forward several years and with the self righteous ban a distant memory, I had occasion to visit the Gaucho Grill on Chancery Lane in  London.  An Argentinean “Grill” restaurant and probably the best steak I have ever tasted.  During that meal I ordered a bottle of Malbec and was wowed.

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Welcome to my new blog which is dedicated to my passion for wine.  Having said that I am strictly amateur and just enjoy drinking the stuff.

Given that I drink so much of the stuff I thought it would be useful to share some thoughts.  In general my aim is to seek out good value wine and food.

I hope you enjoy the blog and I hope you will contribute your own thoughts and experiences.

I have chosen to categorise the site by region so bear with me whilst I build up the material in this blog and expand to other regions.

This is after all a personal site and expresses my personal opinions.  Therefore you ought to know that I love wines from France, South America, Italy, Spain, South Africa, RoW and Australia roughly in that order.  However, because I often find that French wines are overpriced, I find myself looking for bargains from elsewhere.

I am a member of the Wine Society, the Sunday Times Wine Club and I also occasionally buy wines from Majestics, the supermarkets and other wine shops.

I am Alastair Bathgate and this is my weblog in which I take a lighthearted look at the world of wine.

I am a strictly amateur wino in that I love wine but I am not prepared to get too serious about it.  I am prepared to pay a few quid for a bottle of wine but only if its great.  I much prefer finding a new discovery at £5 that tastes like nectar and I can afford to order a case.

Oh, I also like food and I blog about either wine, food or both at the same time.

I live in Leeds (England) but spend a lot of time in Manchester and a bit of time in London.  I am a long suffering Manchester City fan and I try hard to support the England Football team (in which I am still sore about the 1986 “Hand of God” incident) despite recent debacles.

If you want to contact me privately you can get me at alastair.bathgate at btinternet.com.  I would love to hear your views and wine and food suggestions.

In the unlikely event that you also share my other passion for enterprise software you can see my other blog at www.workforceinabox.com.

Happy Drinking.